BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 502
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Date of Hearing: June 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Anthony Rendon, Chair
SB
502 (Leno) - As Amended April 8, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 37-0
SUBJECT: San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District:
purchase and delivery of electricity.
SUMMARY: This bill authorizes the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid
Transit District (BART) to purchase electricity generated by a
renewable energy resource as defined in California's Renewable
Portfolio Standards (RPS) Program. Specifically, this bill:
a)Requires an electrical corporation that owns and operates
transmission and distribution facilities that deliver
electricity at one or more locations to BART, upon request by
BART, and without discrimination or delay, use the facilities
to deliver electricity generated by an eligible renewable
energy resource.
b)Defines "eligible renewable energy resources" to mean
renewable energy resources eligible under California's RPS
program.
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires any electrical corporation that owns and operates
transmission and distribution facilities that deliver
electricity at one or more locations to BART, upon request by
BART, and without discrimination or delay, use the same
facilities to deliver preference power purchased from a
federal power marketing agency or its successor, or deliver
electricity purchased from a local publicly owned electric
utility (POU). (Public Utilities Code Section 701.8)
2)Requires the electric utility to bill BART for usage as though
all the electricity purchased at transmission level voltages
were metered by a single meter at one location and all the
electricity purchased at subtransmission voltages were metered
by a single meter at one location, as specified. (Public
Utilities Code Section 701.8)
3)Prohibits an electrical corporation from terminating any lease
entered into between BART and an electrical utility for
special facilities for the purpose of receiving power at
transmission level voltages to be terminated without the
consent of BART. (Public Utilities Code Section 701.8)
4)Establishes the RPS program, which expresses the intent of the
Legislature that the amount of electricity generated per year
from eligible renewable energy resources be increased to an
amount that equals at least 33% of the total electricity sold
to retail customers in California per year by December 31,
2020. (Public Utilities Code Section 399.11)
5)Directs the State Air Resources Board to monitor and regulate
sources of emission of greenhouse gases that cause global
warming in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
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(Health and Safety Code Section 38510)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: "BART trains are 100% electric, fueled by
a power mix with a high percentage of clean hydropower. Each
weekday, BART riders prevent over 4.5 million pounds of
polluting CO2 from entering the atmosphere. The elected
members of the BART Board of Directors would like the ability
to procure more renewable energy by contracting directly with
RPS eligible renewable electric generation resources. Under
current law, those procurements would have to be done through
third party transactions managed by one of the sources of
electricity authorized for BART in state law. This
constitutes an unnecessary barrier that the BART District
seeks to eliminate."
2)Background: California's RPS was established in 2002 under SB
1078 (Sher, Chapter 516, Statues of 2002), and was accelerated
in 2006 under SB 107 (Simitian, Chapter 464, Statutes of 2006)
to require that 20% of electricity retail sales be served by
renewable energy resources by 2010. The RPS was again
increased in 2011, through SBX1-2 (Simitian, Chapter 1,
Statues of 2011), to require that 33% of electricity retail
sales be served by renewable energy resources by 2020.
Furthermore, in 2006, the Legislature enacted AB 32 (Nunez,
Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006), which tasked the Air Resources
Board to adopt rules and regulations that would reduce
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greenhouse gas emissions in the state to 1990 levels by 2020.
The RPS and AB 32 represent active steps taken by the state to
reduce the adverse impact and threat global warming poses to
the economic wellbeing, public health, natural resources, and
environment of California.
In January 2015, Governor Brown proposed in his inaugural
address three ambitious goals to be accomplished within the
next 15 years. These goals are:
Increase from 33% to 50% our electricity derived
from renewable sources;
Reduce today's petroleum use in cars and trucks by
up to 50%; and
Double the efficiency of existing buildings and make
heating fuels cleaner.
1)BART: BART is a regional rapid transit system built in 1972
that services communities in the Bay Area, including Alameda,
Contra Costa, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties, with
plans to expand to Santa Clara County. The BART system has 44
stations and 104 miles of track with an estimated average
weekday ridership of 403,680 and 122 million trips annually.
BART trains are 100% electric with 53% of its power coming
from clean hydro and renewable sources. In addition, the
Federal Transportation Agency considers BART the cleanest
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transit system in the United States.
2)Procurement of Energy: Until 1995, BART procured its energy
from its regional investor owned utility (IOU), Pacific Gas &
Electric Company (PG&E). In 1995, the Legislature passed SB
184 (Kopp, Chapter 681, Statues of 1995), allowing BART to
procure energy from a federal power marketing agency or its
successor. In 2004, the Legislature passed SB 1201
(Torlakson, Chapter 613, Statutes of 2004), allowing BART to
also procure energy from a POU. These measures allowed BART
to access inexpensive federal hydropower. As a result, BART
currently procures its electricity from the Northern
California Power Agency, a local POU, and the Western Area
Power Administration, a federal agency. BART also generates
electricity from solar facilities located at BART facilities.
BART was given the authority to procure electricity through a
municipal utility, subject to fulfilling transmission and
distribution cost responsibilities. Other transit systems
seeking to procure power from a source other than their
regional electricity provider would be required to do so
through existing "direct access" programs. Direct access is
not available in areas served by POUs.
This bill would authorize BART to procure eligible renewable
resources defined under the RPS. Although BART is the
cleanest transit system in the US, its Board of Directors
further seeks to reduce the system's carbon emissions by
seeking to procure more energy from renewable resources.
Currently, if BART wishes to procure renewable energy, it can
only do so through a federal power marketing authority or a
local POU. Allowing BART to directly procure electricity from
an eligible renewable energy resource would remove this
barrier and allow it to directly contract with eligible
renewable resources.
BART compensates PG&E for the use of the utility's
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transmission and distribution system. As a result, other
customers of PG&E are not impacted by transactions proposed by
this bill.
3)Arguments in Support: According to BART, the sponsor of the
bill, "BART is the backbone of the Bay Area transit system,
providing more than 400,000 daily passenger trips throughout
Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties.
BART's all-electric trains provide reliable and efficient
transit service - a critical alternative to driving - that
reduces the Bay Area's carbon footprint by nearly 4.5 million
pounds of CO2 a day. SB 502 will authorize BART to procure
electricity from generation facilities that qualify as
renewable under the [RPS], and will go a long way into
assisting the BART Board in its effort to procure more
renewable energy and further reduce the local carbon foot."
4) Related Legislation:
AB 197 (E. Garcia) 2015: This bill revises the RPS
procurement process to emphasize greenhouse gas emissions and
reliability factors.
AB 645 (Williams) 2015: This bill establishes a RPS target of
50% by 2030, including interim targets of 38% by 2023, and 44%
by 2026.
SB 286 (Hertzberg) would expand the limit on Direct Access
(DA) service for nonresidential customers of electrical IOUs.
SB 350 (De Leon) 2015: This bill enacts goals that would
direct a 50% reduction in petroleum use, require that 50% of
electricity come from renewable resources, and require a
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doubling of the energy efficiency of existing buildings by
2030.
5)Prior Legislation:
SBX1-2 (Simitian) 2011: Increases California's RPS to require
all retail sellers of electricity and all IOUs to procure at
least 33% of electricity delivered to their retail customers
from renewable resources by 2020. Chaptered by the Secretary
of State - Chapter 1, Statutes of 2011-12 First Extraordinary
Session.
AB 32 (Nunez) 2006: Creates a statewide greenhouse gas
emission limit that would reduce emissions by 25% by 2020.
Chaptered by the Secretary of State - Chapter 488, Statutes of
2006.
SB 107 (Simitian) 2006: Requires retail sellers of
electricity to procure at least 20% of their retail sales from
renewable power by 2010. Chaptered by the Secretary of State
- Chapter 464, Statutes of 2006.
SB 1201 (Torlakson) 2004: Authorizes BART to receive power
from a POU without discrimination or delay from any electrical
corporation. Chaptered by the Secretary of State - Chapter
613, Statutes of 2004.
SB 1078 (Sher) 2002: Requires utilities to increase
procurement of electricity from renewable energy sources by at
least 1% per year. Chaptered by the Secretary of State -
Chapter 516, Statutes of 2002.
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SB 184 (Kopp) 1995: Authorizes BART to receive power from a
federal power marketing agency or its successor without
discrimination or delay from any electrical corporation.
Chaptered by the Secretary of State - Chapter 681, Statutes of
1995.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) (Sponsor)
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Transit Association
Center for Sustainable Energy
Clean Power Campaign
Coalition for Clean Air
Environment California
Environmental Defense Fund
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Large-scale Solar Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
Northern California Power Agency
Recurrent Energy
Sierra Club California
Solar Energy Industries Association
Union of Concerned Scientists
Vote Solar
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Edmond Cheung / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
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